Illuminating apparatus.



human snares earner union WILFRID LUMLEY, OF CONNEAUT, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY,-

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. I

ILLUMINATING APIEARATUS.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ocam, 1915.

Application fi1ed-Apri1 22, 1913. Serial No. 762,842.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, WILFRID LmvrLnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Conneaut, in the county of Ashtabula, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Illuminating Apparatus, of which the following is a speclfication.

My invention relates to illuminating apparatus, and especially to apparatus of the glass bowl illuminator type employed for indirect and semi-indirect lighting. My invention not only makes it possible for such apparatus to be built in sizes which were heretofore out of the question and allows its esthetic effect and its illuminative efficiency and more practical qualities to be improved and enhanced, vbut also greatly facilitates and cheapens its manufacture and makes it easy to execute repairs in cases in which they were formerly either quite impossible or very expensive. Other advantages obtainable in connection wlth the invention will become apparent in the following description of a particular embodiment. It is to be understood, however, that while my invention extends to the particular form of apparatus described and to many of its specific features and details, which are of especial importance on account of specific advantages, yet the invention is not limited to this apparatus and its details, but can be otherwise carried out and applied.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, a portion being broken away and removed in order that certain structural features may be visible; Fig. 2 is a partial plan view, various parts being omitted to avoid confusion; Fig. 3 is an exterior detail View illustrating the configuration and relative arrangement of certain parts; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section at a surface indcated by the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

It will be seen that the apparatus shown comprises a bowl structure which is adapted to be suitably mounted or suspended and to contain one or more sources of light (as, for example, a number of incandescent lamps), and is intended to throw a portion of the light upward to the ceiling of the room inwhich'it is used so that the light may be reflected downward in such a manner that a more or less uniform, even, difiuse illumination will be obtained. When illuminators of this type are made of glass and according to present ordinary practice, it is found practically almost impossible to produce a bowl substantially over two feet in diameter,or, if such a bowl be made, to temper it so as to prevent it from remaining in a condition of internal stress that would render it liable to go to pieces when in use with serious consequences to persons near it at the time. Such glass illuminators are therefore limited to about the size above mentioned, and even when of this size they are very expensive and quite difiicult to make and handle. When the illuminators are made in accordance with the mode of construction hereinafter set forth, however, such difiiculties as these are entirely overcome, and within the range of what will in practice ever be desired limitations as to size no longer exist.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the inclosure or bowl structure as a whole is built up out of a number of relatively small pieces. As here shown, a unitary integral piece 1 of glass or other similar or suitable material (itself shown as having the form of a bowl more or less nearly or exactly similar to the one piece bowl illuminators at present in ordinary use) forms the bottom or base of the structure, as it were, and the portion above this is composed of a number of pieces of glass or the like of convenient size which to distinguish them from the bowl piece 1 may be referred to as lamell'ee or shingles. As shown, a number of such pieces are mounted and arranged-in a row or tier 2 along the upper edge of the bowl piece so as to form an upward extension of its wall 1; and if a bowl of larger size than this gives is required, the superstructure is further extended upward by means of additional more or less nearly horizontal rows 3 and 4 of such pieces, as also shown. In the construction shown, the upper edges of the shingle pieces in a row overlap the lower edges of those in the row above it,-the bowl 1 overlap- 1ping the lower edges of the pieces in the owermost row 2,.and the pieces in each row also overlap at their adjacent edges (Figs. 2, 3, and 4:). With such an arrangement and a-suitable design of the pieces, the fact that the bowl is not all one piece need not, especially if the material employed is opaque or semi-opaque, be noticeable or even observable, and the overlapping pieces may be .made to blend in a harmonious general than the reverse. To prevent light from within the bowl from shining out at the junctions of the pieces and to at least lessen the possibility'of breakage from their jarring against oneanother, strips 5 of cloth or other fabric may be interposed between the overlapping edges; for example, such strips 5 may be secured along the underlying edges of each shingle piece by means of shellac (Fig. 4). As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, radially extending edges of the pieces in a row are so formed that each piece is adapted to overlap the piece at one side of it and to lie behind the piece at the other side of it, so that in this particular structure the general resemblance of the pieces to shingles one roof extends even to an exact similarity of arrangement as regards both the several rows and the pieces in each row. The form and configuration of the shingle pieces in row 2 are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and that of those in row 4 in Fig. 2. The other shin gle pieces are similar to these, but are merely 1 shown somewhat diagrammatically to avoid confusion. It will, of course, be understood that the design and the relative arrangement of the pieces can be varied according to the exigencies ofthe particularcase and the scheme of ornamentation employed.

The securing of the various shingle pieces together and to the bowl i'ece 1 can best be'accomplished by attaching pieces to a suitable interior supporting structure, which may also serve for the mounting of the incandescent lamps within the bowl and for the attachment of the means whereby the illuminator is supported. In the construction shown, the interior supporting structure comprises a framework made up of annular metallic members or rings 6, 7, 8 and 9 joined together by radially extending members or braces 10. The parts 10, it will be seen, are composed of flat strips or bars curved in conformity with the general form of the illuminator and bent at suitable intervals to receive the rings. As shown, each of the parts .10 comprises two such strips one of which lies beneath the rings and the other of which lies above the rings; and screws or screw bolts 11 extending through the strips serve to clamp the rings between them. The shingles of the several rows 2, 3, and 4, it will be seen, are secured to the several rings 6, 7, 8, and 9 near their upper and lower edges, the arrangement being such that the members 6, 7 8 and 9 fall near the overlapping upper and lower edges of the shingles of adjacent rows. The bowl piece 1 may be secured to the lowermost ring all the shades, it will screwed 0n its lower ends, or in both these ways, as shown.

In addition to the framework, the interior supporting structure shown comprises a number of double footed approximately U shaped clips, brackets, or hangers 15 which serve as securing means for the attachment of the pieces to the rings 6, 7, 8, and 9. The hangers 15 shown consist of suitably bent strips of metal, and they are sprung open and slipped over the ring member 6, 7, 8, and 9 so that the latter rest in their bends. If it be deemed advisable, screw bolts 16 may be used as shown to secure and clamp some or all of the hangers 15 on the rings. For directly securing the pieces to the hangers 15 are employed fasteners 17 more or less similar to the ordinary cotter-pin binders that are used for fastening papers together. The fasteners 17 may be inserted through holes 18 in the pieces near their upper and lower edges and in the feet of the hangers 15 and their ends bent apartin the ordinary manner, washers 19 being preferably used between the heads of the fasteners 15 and the surface of the pieces, and also, if thought advisable, under the bent over ends of the fasteners. In the arrangement shown, the outer ends of the fasteners 17 at the lower edges of the shingle pieces of each row are concealed by the upper edges of the shingles in the row beneath or by the upper edge of the bowl piece 1. As for any fastener ends that are not so concealed (as shown, the heads of those near the upper edges of the shingles), they and their washers may and made a feature of the exterior ornamentation; or, if the bowl be made of milk glass, opal glass, or some colored glass, they may be painted or enameled and colored to harmonize with the surrounding area; or

be silvered, for example,

ered up so as to be invisible. As shown, the heads of these fasteners lie at the centers of annular bosses 20 which form part of theornamentation of the bowl, and so are not prominent at all. The lamps 21 and their be seen, are mounted in holders or sockets 22 of any desired orapproved form, and the sockets 22 are mounted on brackets 23 which are secured to the radially extending braces 10 by screws or screw bolts 24. Only a few of these lamps 21 with their associated parts are shown in order that the drawing may .not be confused. The

chains 25 which in the apparatus shown support the illuminator are secured to split collars 26 clamped on the next to the upper ring by suitable screws.

The various advantages obtainable by such a construction as that above described will be apparent almost without remark.

Xot only can the illuminators be made in much larger sizes than heretofore, not only 1s damage which the llluminator may re- .1 ceive from any ordinary accident limited by the many plece construction, and not only can such damage be cheaply remedied by the replacement of a few pieces, but the manufacture of the illuminators is vervmuch 'cheapened by reason of the fact that illuminators of any size that will in practice be required can be made up with the same line of lower row pieces, so that the production of these pieces can be carried out on a very large scale and in the most economical manner. Even, indeed, when only a comparatively small number of specially large illuminators are to be manufactured, a very considerable number of pieces of each pattern will be employed for the upper rows, so that the design and manufacture of this portion of the illuminator can also be made relatively inexpensive.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s:-

1. An illuminator comprising an inner ring, an annular inclosure surrounding the said ring and made up of a plurality of overlapping sections, and means carried by the said ring for supporting each of the said sections.

2. An illuminator comprising an inner ring, an annular inclosure surrounding the said 'ring and made up of a plurality of ring, an annular inclosure surrounding the said ring and made up of a plurality of overlapping sections, means carried by the said ring for supporting each of the said sections, and means for preventing the transmission of light at the junction of the said sections.

4. An illuminator comprising an inner ring, a pair of superposed inclosure members surrounding the said ring and supported thereby at their adjacent edges, each of said members comprising a plurality of separable sections, and a light source supported within the said inclosure members by the said ring.

5. An illuminator comprising a bowl composed of a number of overlapping pieces of glass, an interior structure for supporting said pieces, and attachment means for securing said pieces to said structure comprising fasteners extending through holes in said pieces and in portions of the supporting structure aforesaid.

6. An illuminator comprisin a bowl composed of a number of pieces 0 glass, an inpieces and in said feet and serving to secure said pieces to said clips.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of April, 1913.

WILFRID LUmEY;

Witnesses: I

EDWARD E. R. CRAWFORD, FREDERICK C. MAXHEIMER. 

